Lesson Plan – Age of Exploration
Class Description:
This class is a 7th grade, Gifted and Talented, Social Studies class. It is made up mostly of highly intelligent and highly motivated students. About three of the students in the class are not as motivated as others. Two of the students do not have the higher ability level that the other students do. They try very hard, but work more slowly and do not always complete assignments. One student in this class has an IEP, but that is for color blindness, so it rarely impacts our lessons.
Unit Title: Europe
Lesson Topic: Age of Exploration
Standards:
Students will analyze the developments of the Renaissance in order to assess their impact on science technology art and politics.
Judges Prior Knowledge: We have been discussing Europe since the Middle Ages and over time I have seen what students know about the topic, and have been able to assess their knowledge of this time period in European history.
Lesson Objective:
Students will be able to discuss well known explorers in order to draw conclusions about the risks and benefits of voyages during the Age of Exploration.
Assessment:
As the class works I will circulate the room in order to assess the students for completion and accuracy. This is a formative assessment that is performance based. I will use this assessment as a way to continue to keep students on track and so that I can see right away if someone needs help.
At the end of class the students will complete a short writing assignment. "Imagine you are an adviser to a European king in the 1500's. The rulers of several other countries have sent explorers to search for new trade routes. Your king doesn’t want to fall behind. Now a young sea captain has come to the royal court with a daring plan. The king is interested. What would you advise the king to do? Make sure that you use information you used today about this time period to support your answer.” This assessment will show whether or not students truly understood the information that they learned in class, and allow them to be creative with their writing.
Materials:
1. Eggs
2. Fact slips
3. Worksheet
4. Elmo
Adaptation:
No adaptation needed for my IEP student.
Incorporation of Technology:
I will use the Elmo to allow me to offer a visual as I go over the worksheet with the class.
Drill / This is the first lesson after coming back from break so I will askWhat were some of the big changes that were happening in the Middle Ages that we discussed before break?
As a way to remind students what we learned and then link that to our lesson. / 3-5 Minutes
Transition / As changes occurred in science and philosophy, people began to be curious about the world around them. People in Europe wanted to travel in search of new land, and riches. Today we’re going to have our own search for riches. We’re going to have our own search for riches today. / 1 Minute
Activity 1 / Count off to put students into groups of 4. Groups will have 5 minutes to go together around the room to search for eggs. Each egg contains information about explorers and the voyages that they went on. Whichever group collects the most eggs will win Jolly Ranchers. / 5 Minutes
Activity 2 / Now read through your information as a group and answer the questions using the information that you have. We will then go over the worksheet together so that we can puzzle together the information. / 10 Minutes
Activity 3 / Go over the worksheet to puzzle together the information and to make sure that everyone gets the information that they need. We will also discuss the questions as we go along. / 12 Minutes
Assessment / "Imagine you are an adviser to a European king in the 1500's. The rulers of several other countries have sent explorers to search for new trade routes. Your king doesn’t want to fall behind. Now a young sea captain has come to the royal court with a daring plan. The king is interested. What would you advise the king to do? Make sure that you use information you used today about this time period to support your answer.” / 10 Minutes
Summary / Today we talked about the Age of Exploration. We had our own search for knowledge and worked together to find information about this time. We talked about new inventions and discoveries that made travel easier. We also talked about some of the reasons that these voyagers and the royals that backed them, may want to risk everything for these voyages. As a class, the majority said that they would send the sea captain because the rewards would outweigh the risk. Does anyone have any questions at this point? / 3 Minutes
Safety Valve / Ask students how many chose to send the captain and ask for some reasons why.
Reflection:
My students responded well to this lesson and gave amazing written responses for their exit ticket. Some even write the exit ticket as though it was a letter to their king responding to his request. I was very impressed by the amount that they learned from this exercise and the amount of detail and creativity they were able to include in their writing.
Name:______Date:______Mod:______
What were some of the main events, discoveries, and inventions that led to the Age of Discovery?
Why did people want to go on voyages?
What were the main countries involved in these voyages?
Who were some other explorers? What were their accomplishments?
Where did the European explorers want to go? Why?
Name of RegionReason for wanting to travel to the region
Describe Columbus’s voyage to America.
Date / Country / What was he trying to do?Further Thinking: How did the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment help to pave the way for this focus on exploration?
Name:______Date: ______Mod:______
Age of Exploration Exit Ticket
Imagine you are an adviser to a European king in the 1500's. The rulers of several other countries have sent explorers to search for new trade routes. Your king doesn’t want to fall behind. Now a young sea captain has come to the royal court with a daring plan. The king is interested. What would you advise the king to do? Make sure that you use information you used today about this time period to support your answer.
______
Egg Fact Slips
1. Some advances in science and technology enabled people to make longer, safer sea voyages. New compasses helped sailors figure out where they were.
2. Improvements in mapmaking helped people plan safer routes for their journeys.
3. New ships, called Caravels, made sea travel safer and could travel farther then older ships could.
4. Some explorers were curious about the unknown. They hoped to find out what lay beyond the horizon.
5. Some explorers were looking for adventure and excitement.
6. Some explorers wanted to spread the Christian faith.
7. Some explorers wanted to get rich and find treasure.
8. Leaders encouraged these voyages because they thought that it might benefit their countries through increased trade and wealth.
9. Explorers from Europe began to search for an all water route to Asia so that they could get goods from China and India.
10. Silks and spices could be found in Asia, but not in Europe.
11. The first explorers to search for a sea route to Asia were from Portugal.
12. In 1497-1498 a Portuguese explorer named Vasco da Gama sailed around the southern tip of Africa and on to the west coast of India.
13. In 1492 Queen Isabella of Spain helped pay for a voyage led by Christopher Columbus.
14. Christopher Columbus hoped to reach Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic.
15. Columbus thought he had found a route to Asia, which Europeans called the Indies. Europeans came to realize that he had reached a land unknown to them.
16. When it was first discovered Europeans referred to the Americas as the “New Land.”
17. Once America was discovered explorers set out from Europe to learn more about the new land.
18. Explorers from Spain, Portugal, France, England, and the Netherlands set off to explore North and South America.
19. Some explorers went to the Americas in search of the best water route to Asia.
20. Some explorers went to the Americas in search of riches. They heard that native people of the Americas had a lot of gold.
21. Some explorers wanted to conquer the lands and the people of the Americas.
22. Prince Henry of Portugal was also known as Henry the Navigator.
23. Henry the Navigator founded a school for sailors, where they could study geography and astronomy. They learned from experienced sea captains and mapmakers from all over Europe.
24. Henry the Navigator believed that there was a faster and less expensive way to travel to Asia. He was determined to find an all water route from Europe to Asia. He thought that the best way would be to travel around the southern tip of Africa.
25. Vasco de Gama was the commander of the first fleet to sail around Africa and make it to the coast of India.
26. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese sailor, was the first person to try to circumnavigate, or travel all the way around the Earth. His crew made it around the world, but he was killed in the Philippines in a conflict with the natives.